Tom Ryan, author of the New York Best Times Best-Seller Following Atticus, is the keynote speaker for this event benefitingThe Sampson Fund for Veterinary Care. **Please no personal pets at this event.**

“After a close friend died of cancer, middle-aged, overweight, acrophobic newspaperman Tom Ryan decided to pay tribute to her in a most unorthodox manner. Ryan and his friend, miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch, would attempt to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire’s four-thousand-foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity. It was an adventure of a lifetime, leading them across hundreds of miles and deep into an enchanting but dangerous winter wonderland. At the heart of the amazing journey was the extraordinary relationship they shared, one that blurred the line between man and dog.

Following Atticus is an unforgettable true saga of adventure, friendship, and the unlikeliest of family, as one remarkable animal opens the eyes and heart of a tough-as-nails newspaperman to the world’s beauty and its possibilities.”

**About Tom Ryan**

“Tom Ryan is the founder of the Newburyport Massachusetts newspaper The Undertoad and served as its publisher and editor for over a decade. In 2007 he sold the newspaper and moved to the White Mountains of New Hampshire with his dog, Atticus M. Finch. Over the last five years, Tom and Atticus have climbed more than 450 4,000-foot peaks.

After raising thousands of dollars for Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, the pair was inducted into the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) Hall of Fame as corecipients of the “Human Hero of the Year Award.” Tom currently writes the popular “The Adventures of Tom & Atticus” column in the NorthCountry News and Mountainside Guide and the blog “The Adventures of Tom and Atticus.” He and Atticus live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.”